Mini Easter Trifles
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These Mini Easter Trifles are the perfect spring dessert layered with moist homemade carrot cake, cream cheese frosting, cookie crumbs, and topped with festive mini Easter eggs. They’re cute, colorful, and perfect for Easter gatherings, dessert tables, or when you want something that looks impressive but is secretly pretty simple to put together.
Bonus: everyone gets their own little dessert. No sharing required!
Why You’ll Love These Mini Easter Trifles
- Adorable single-serve desserts perfect for Easter
- Moist homemade carrot cake layers
- Fun spring dirt and grass look with cookie crumbs and piped frosting.
- Easy to assemble ahead of time
Ingredients
See the recipe card at the bottom of the post for all ingredients and quantities.
Vegetable oil – Using oil in this cake instead of butter allows it to be stored in the fridge without the cake becomes hard.
Granulated sugar & Brown sugar – This adds sweetness and depth of flavor to the carrot cake.
Cinnamon & Nutmeg – The cinnamon and nutmeg add the signature carrot cake flavor. Of course you can leave it out or swap it for your favorite spices.
Carrots – Finely shredded the carrots. The carrots add a ton of moisture to the cake.
Oreo Cookies – These make up the dirt for these Easter trifles. Leave the filling in and finely chop them. You can use a mini chopped for super fine crumbs.
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Substitutions and Variations
- Use store-bought carrot cake or a carrot cake mix to save time.
- You can substitute the vegetable oil in the carrot cake for any neutral flavored oil.
- Swap Oreos for chocolate graham cracker for the dirt.
- Leave the frosting white if you want to color it.
- You can swap the cream cheese frosting or chocolate frosting or swiss meringue frosting for something lighter and less sweet.
- Add chopped nuts or raisins to the carrot cake for extra texture.
- Use different candies on top for other holidays or themes.
NOTE: This recipe has not been tested with other substitutions or variations
How to Make Mini Easter Trifles
Step 1: Bake the carrot cake in a jelly roll pan and let it cool completely.
Step 2: Beat together the cream cheese frosting until smooth and fluffy.
Step 3: Cut out circles of carrot cake to fit your serving glass.
Step 4: Place the cake layer in the bottom of each glass. Pipe a thick layer of frosting on top.
Step 5: Sprinkle a layer of crushed cookies over the frosting.
Step 6: Add a second cake layer and gently press it down.
Step 7: Pipe the frosting grass on top to create the grass effect.
Step 8: Sprinkle more cookie crumbs and top with mini Easter egg candies.
Tips for Best Results
- Let the cake cool completely before cutting or assembling.
- Use a cookie cutter that fits your serving glasses for clean layers.
- Pipe the frosting instead of spreading it for cleaner layers.
- Chill slightly before serving if you want firmer layers.
How to Store and Freeze
Store these trifles covered or in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
I don’t recommend freezing these trifles once they’re assembled, but you can freeze the cake itself. Let it cool completely and then wrap it tightly in two layers of plastic wrap and a layer of heavy-duty aluminum foil. Place it in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight.
Recipe FAQs
Yes! You can spoon the frosting in, but piping gives you the cleaner layers and the grass effect.
Small glass bowls or jars around 3 to 4 inches wide is what I used, but you can use what you have on hand.
Yes! You can make them 1 to 2 days before serving them.
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Mini Easter Trifles
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Ingredients
Carrot Cake
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
- 4 large eggs
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3 cups grated carrots
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 4 ounces cream cheese room temperature
- ½ cup butter room temperature
- 2 ½ cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
- 1 to 3 drops Kelly green gel food coloring
- 20 Oreo cookies finely chopped
- 18 mini Easter egg candies
Instructions
Carrot Cake
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease a 17.25 x 11.5-inch jelly roll pan with nonstick cooking spray and dust with flour. Tap out any excess flour once the bottom and sides are all well coated.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the 1 cup granulated sugar, 1 cup light brown sugar, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, and 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg. Mix until combined.
- Add in the 1 1/4 cups vegetable oil. Mix on medium until combined.
- Add the 4 large eggs and 2 teaspoon vanilla extract. Mix on medium until the eggs are incorporated.
- In a separate bowl, sift together the 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoons baking soda, 1 teaspoon baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
- Pour the dry ingredients into the wet mixture. Mix on low until the flour is almost completely incorporated. Turn up to medium and mix for another 30 seconds.
- Add the 3 cups grated carrotsand stir until incorporated.
- Pour the cake batter into the prepared jelly roll pan and spread out evenly to the edges.
- Place in the preheated oven and bake for 39 – 44 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean or with moist crumbs.
- Let the cake cool completely before turning out onto a piece of parchment paper.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- In a large mixing bowl, add the 4 ounces cream cheese and ½ cup butter. Beat with a hand mixer on medium speed until incorporated.
- Add the 2 ½ cups powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, and 3 tablespoons heavy whipping cream. Beat on low speed until most of the powdered sugar is worked into the frosting.
- Add the 1 to 3 drops Kelly green gel food coloring and turn the mixer on medium speed. Beat until the cream cheese frosting is light and fluffy.
- Add 1/3 of the frosting into a disposable piping bag fitted with a Wilton #233 grass tip.
- Add the remaining frosting into a disposable piping bag fitted with just an ateco coupler or large round tip. You can also just use a large storage bag and cut a large hole in one of the corners of the bag.
- I’m using small glass bowls with straight sides that were 2 inches tall and 3 ¾ inches wide for my trifles. Using a 3 ½ inch circle cookie cutter, cut out 12 carrot cake rounds.
- Place the first circle of cake in the bottom of the 6 glass bowls.
- Using the frosting in the bag with the round tip, pipe a thick layer of frosting on top of the cake.
- Sprinkle a layer of cookie crumbs on top of the frosting.
- Add the second layer of cake in the bowl. Gently press the cake down into the cookie crumb and frosting layer.
- Pipe the cream cheese frosting that’s in the bag with the grass tip on top of the cake layer. Cover all or half of the top with the grass. You can smooth out some of the frosting if you would like and just leave patches of grass.
- Sprinkle the cookie crumbs on top.
- Pop 3 mini Easter egg candies on top of the trifles.
- Serve immediately or store in the refrigerator.
Notes
Nutrition
(Nutrition facts are an estimate and not guaranteed to be accurate. Please see a registered dietitian for special diet advice.)